Cannabis-Using Mothers’ Kids May Engage In The Same Behavior At A Younger Age

Latest research shows that children are more likely to smoke pot at younger ages if their mother uses cannabis as well. The study was performed at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

According to researchers, when their mothers used marijuana during the kids’ first 12 years of life, these kids were at a much higher risk of using pot themselves by the age of 17, compared to kids whose moms did not use the drug.

It seems that kids of cannabis-using mothers started using it themselves at the age of 16, compared to non-cannabis-using households who began trying weed at the age of 18.

Experts have been analyzing data from The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, from 1980 to 1998, and the Child and Young Adults survey, from 1988 to 2014.

They evaluated data for 4,440 children and 2,586 mothers. Overall, 67% of children and 35% of mothers self-identified as cannabis users.

Reasons for which kids start using weed earlier in life

According to Dr. Natasha Sokol, the study’s co-author claims that there are two main reasons for which children may engage in cannabis use at an earlier age if their mothers do.

The first reason is, of course, the fact that their mothers are a model for the kids who are repeating the behavior they see later in life.

The second reason is that moms who use cannabis may be less confident in their ability to talk about drugs with their kids. For instance, they could be embarrassed by their own drug use and less able to offer useful advice.

Experts always make sure to highlight the fact that parental discussion around drug use is important, especially considering that cannabis laws change in Canada.

“[Parents] might feel a bit hypocritical telling their kids not to use drugs when they were using them,” Sokol told Global News. “[They] might also be somewhat impaired in their ability to effectively monitor what their kids are doing.”

Rada attended the courses in the Faculty of Letters, Romanian-English section, and finished the Faculty of Theatre and Television, Theatrical Journalism section, both within the framework of Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. Up ’til now, she reviewed books, movies, and theatre-plays, enjoying subjects from the cultural niche. Her experience in writing also intersects the IT niche, given the fact that she worked as a content editor for firms that produce software for mobile devices. She is collaborating with online advertising agencies, writing articles for several websites and blogs.